Before Clow Reed
by Serrinatta
Summary: DONE! All chapters edited! The Clow cards were made a long time before Sakura was born, but who got Clow Reed interested enough to study magic and eventually create his magical cards?(please note that the relation to CCS will be more obvious in sequil!)
1. Once It Began...

ONCE IT BEGAN

A wind blew through the frosty mountains, blowing drifts of fine powdery snow across the lifeless ragged rocks. A sole figure walked across a ridge bundled in heavy clothes and jackets. Descending down the ridge, the figure climbed into a deep crevice. Inside, this fissure became a cave with two tunnels, one left and the other right. The figure leaned against the wall, breaking from a long weary trip. Heading left, the figure passed by a hole in the rough rock and shining out from that hole were the lights of a rather cozy inn, with a bar and restaurant. Many people were gathered in there as the figure peered into the window-like hole.

"Whattur yoo lookin' at?" a rather drunken looking man commented to the figure.

"Hey! Don't-cha know the front door's to the right?" another man in the bar added.

The figure walked on and came to the back door of the inn. Stepping inside, the figure spoke for the first time throughout the whole trip, "Auntie Amirie, I came. I am here now"

"Aariah!? You're here already, Aariah?" An old, but nowhere near withered, woman came over to the back door, her height much shorter "I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow, my little niece!" She wiped her hands on her apron. "Well, come in! Come in! If it only took you two days, you must be tired And famished!"

Aariah was ushered into the back house of the inn, where the owner, her aunt, lived. "Thank you," she mumbled, and took off her heavy, hooded outer coat. Her curly black hair fell into place; two long strips dangled on either side of her face and a short train trailed down the back from a leather strap tied at the cap of her head. "Has my cloak arrived from Mataria yet?"

Amirie helped her get out of her heavy layers down to her simple blue gown, "Yes, it has, dear, and you're in luck, too. I hung it up right away next to the warming area so I wouldn't forget to put it there before you got here."

"Oh, thank you Auntie Amirie! I am rather cold." Aariah was then ushered into the bar room where the warming area was.

"Sit down here, my dear, warm yourself up and I'll make you a bowl of soup to help out." Amirie placed a deep purple cloak upon her niece's shoulders and pointed at a chair for her. The warming area was rather cozy. It was just the rugged area between the fireplace on the wall and the wood stove towards the center of the room. Travelers just arriving were welcome to the spot to shake off the frigid weather.

Aariah pulled the warm cloth around her, and felt the weariness from her trip start to surface. It had been so cold, so long, and so hard to reach Auntie Amirie's place in the mountains. It was not something she was use to, but it _was_ something she would _have_ to get use to.

"Aariah? You don't look well, did the travel not agree with you?" Amirie asked. To her astonishment, her niece fainted, landing on the wooden floor beside the warming area.

"Hey!? Is she seeck or sumthin'? I done wanna catch whutta she got, man! Whutta ya think yer doin' bringin' a seeck person in here? Shee'll make us all seeck!" The same drunken man was swaggering towards them from his seat at a nearby table.

"You know very well the travel from Potoremin to here is a tiring one! And in two days is even more tiring! Have some respect for the weary!" Amirie bristled, then turned to the barkeep. "Siefoth, help me take our niece to a bed. She obviously needs rest before she needs sustenance."

Amirie's husband, Siefoth, was a comparably tall and well-built man who came around the bar counter and gently picked up his niece. He then followed Amirie to one of the bedrooms to tuck the weary woman into a warm bed.

* * * * * * * * * *

Later that day, Amirie checked in on Aariah. "Oh, you're finally awake," she sighed.

"Mmm-hmm." Aariah confirmed from the candle lit desk by the bed. She stretched and yawned.

"Well, good. You had your uncle and I worried when you passed out, out there. Not to mention a few patrons were thinking your were ill with something." Amirie paused questioningly, for she noticed Aariah looking at her barely patiently.

"I've done it." Aariah paused slightly from her still groggy state. "I've captured the air"

"Oh! My dear! I'm so proud of you!" Amirie hugged Aariah, "I never thought that that _anyone_ in our family would ever become powerful enough to capture elements! Oh, this is just like back when your grandmother was a young child. I heard so many stories, with such vivid detail! Please, tell me how you caught the wind! I would like to hear more of these stories!"

"Alright but please, a bowl of that soup you promised me? And a cozy spot for us to sit at?" Aariah asked.

"Of course, Aariah. Let us go back to the warming area, and I'll have Siefoth bring you a bowl of our daily soup. Come now." Amirie guided her niece back out to the main room of the bar and sat her down in one of the booths closest to the warming area. Siefoth came out with a steaming, flavorful, bowl of vegetable soup and placed it on the table between the two women with its wooden spoon before he also sat, at the end of the booth.

Aariah took a spoonful of broth and slowly sipped it after she had blown upon it slightly. "Well, it's like this, Auntie Amirie. I was practicing in the foothills near my home in the out skirts of Potoremin. The majority of what I was practicing were chants, and staff combat"


	2. The Tale Told...

THE TALE TOLD

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

Upon the foothills of the Ashen Mountains, Aariah swooped her staff close to the ground before whipping it straight out in front of herself. Her flashy green cloak and dress flared around her. The day was crisp in early fall, and the defense practice was going exceptionally well. Even though her sparring partner had not shown up that day, Aariah could tell her abilities were improving. She backed up and twirled the staff around her in a defensively shielding way while the wind blew fallen brown leaves across the patchy grass like tumbleweed. There had been an early frost that fall and many of the trees were bare already. A pile of leaves formed under the tree where she had left her other practicing equipment. After several slow defensive maneuvers, that she was getting better and better at, she switched practices.

She went over to the stack of stuff, almost buried in leaves and pulled out her pendant of a dagger and her apprenticing magic book. She was so close to finishing the design for her magical circle that would eventually allow her to become more than an apprentice. In the circle were multiple pentagrams patterned to fit as many as she could of that average size. Inside the pentagon of each star was an animal. Because there were only eight pentagrams, she had to limit her animals to that many. She had already picked some animals that would be on there no matter what. They were already placed upon the drawing. She had a Black Panther, a fish, a squirrel, a bird, a mountain goat, and a penguin. Each animal was specifically chosen for parts of its aspects. The Black Panther would symbolize her ambition to be a rather sly individual. The fish was for her ability to swim. The squirrel was for her connection to the wood. The bird was for her ability to let her mind soar. The mountain goat for was for her ability to overcome obstacles. Finally the penguin was for its ability to shut out the cold.

Her only problem was figuring out what two elemental animals to assign to the center pentagrams. She knew she wanted the two creatures to have two of the four elements part of their appearance, but what to have was hard to choose. The four elements were that of fire, air, water, and wood and she had to combine them into couples of a compatible sense. She had now come down to the combinations of water and wood, fire and air. Aariah sighed. She needed to find a creature of water and wood as well as a creature of fire and air. She looked up at the clouds for help. The shapes of the clouds always helped her brainstorm a solution.

She saw the shape of a duck pass by, but a duck wouldn't do. A duck was water and air, and that would leave the incompatible wood and fire. A fish shape floated into view. Obviously a fish wouldn't do. She already had a fish on her magical circle and it was only water based. The sun was getting low before she saw her real inspiration. Rising in the east, as if chasing the sun, was a cloud shaped like a dragon. Aariah knew that dragons could be based off from all different kinds of elements and combinations. So she began to work as the wind picked up. The new creature Aariah made was the dragon of fire and air. That was the easy one for many dragons were imagined flying and breathing fire. Aariah quickly scribed the new creature onto the drawing. Now she wondered how to create the second creature, the one of wood and water. Out of curiosity, she began to draw a twig. That twig turned into a branch as the leaves around her turned and rustled. The branch reminded her of an antler and Aariah got the idea. She made the head and claws of wood, the whiskers and tassels of vines, and the scales of leaves but the body shape was that of a long serpentine dragon. When she finished the drawing of her magic circle, the wind became fierce. It picked up to a whistling, haunting pitch and the strange weather made Aariah stand. She clung tightly to her dagger pendant and cringed, as the wind became a funnel around her.

In a split second Aariah remembered a line from her studying of her book. She remembered that this line would transform a pendant of some sort into a staff. Any defense would be helpful to her situation so she spoke out loud, "I call upon my own might, to release the staff of my right!" To her pleasure, the line worked, extending the dagger's handle to the length of her and it hovered in front of Aariah despite the raging wind. She quickly took it, only then not knowing what to do with it. The air began to lift her slowly off her feet and she cried out, "No!" In a desperate attempt to save herself, she remembered the chant that she had used to make wild animals her loyal pets and servants. "Powered by my might of will, I challenge you to show your face, there will be no need to kill, my power will take your power's place! What I see will become mine, and in my eye I see _air_!" Upon naming the object, a bright circle formed beneath her. Aariah knew this would happen for it had worked earlier with an instructional magic circle. But now it was her own circle, and she had a staff, her own staff for that matter. Her power was fueling the capture, and it was working.

The visible ribbons of air seemed almost to form a small flying child before they twisted around the lowered, almost grounded tip of her dagger staff. Momentarily pausing, the ribbons of air turned to thunder as their energy raged up the staff and merged with her own. Aariah screamed for she had never been zapped by lightning before, and had never felt such pain of raw power surging through her soul. When the energy finally merged with her own, a few residual sparks sizzled through her tattered green cloak as her stance broke and she passed out upon the top of the hill.

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 


	3. A Search Started...

A SECRET STARTED

" I woke up at my Teacher's training facility." Aariah spooned more soup. "He was pacing back and forth. When he saw that I had awakened, it only made him pace harder. After several minutes he told me what was troubling him. _'I don't know what to do with you. I'm disappointed in you showing you magic outside of this room for you know very well that people would recognize my teaching and would find out that I was training a woman!'_ He had said and paced back and forth harder before stopping to look into my eyes, _'But but you caught the AIR! None of my other students have accomplished anything NEAR enough to that! Even my teaching now would be pointless, for you have advanced too far for me to add to your skill.'_ He had paused and had gone back to his pacing." Aariah had finished her soup, but Siefoth was too engaged into her story to take it back to the kitchen. "It wasn't too long before he told me to head north, here, to the mountains. He said that if I had caught the air then I must catch all four elements. I had asked why. I asked why I needed all four and not just keep the one. He had told me that other people of power would try to defeat me and take my air from me. _'For example,'_ he had said, _'if someone were to own Fire, the Air would only feed the Fire and you would be destroyed very easily.'_ And so I got the idea_. 'You have relatives in the mountains, do you not?'_ He had asked me. Of course I told him of you, and so he sent me here, telling me much about how to capture the elements, why it had worked before and that here, in the mountains, is where I would find Water, _'Your next challenge,'_ he had said."

"Well," Amirie said, obviously overloaded with the story. "Where ah where do you intend to find Water up here? Is it in the snow? In a stream perhaps? Did he tell you where to look?"

"Not exactly, Auntie Amirie, but he told me of a chant that may help tell me which direction the water element is from me."

"How come it had to be in the mountains?" Siefoth asked, "I'm reasonably sure you can find water in other areas of land." He picked up the now empty bowl.

"Well, he had said, that there was actually an almost living entity of each element. Well, rather _two_ living entities for each element. An Air entity apparently was passing through and wished to make mischief not believing that I was powerful enough to tame it. But apparently, I was a strong match, It wore itself out trying to get through my daily protection spells that I had been using before it was able to start thrashing about me and lifting me above the earth. I believe this weakened it, causing the tables to be turned in my favor."

Siefoth finally nodded his understanding, he wasn't the one keen on magic anyway, and Amirie continued to ask questions as he walked away, "So, how did he know that one of the water entities would be here?" She leaned forward onto the table and hushed her voice.

"I believe he had heard from a friend that had been crossing through these mountains, that he had seen _something_ in the streams around and that it was in fact not the first time he had seen it during his travels through the mountains. His friend is that of a mage, and so he understands that when his friend sees something, then there is in fact something there."

"Well then. I guess you must be just itching to try out that locating spell then, aren't you?" Amirie sat up and tapped her palms on the table. "What would you like to prepare with?"

"Well, that room you gave me should do fine I shall take my cloak plus other items that I brought with me and I will need some peace about the room. Please try to keep people away from it, would you?" Aariah looked hopefully at her aunt.

"Of course, dear. I'll be happy to help you." Amirie stood and accompanied her niece to her room.

It didn't take long for Aariah to set up what she needed in her room. Her cloak was upon her shoulders, her book -- which had been hidden within the folds of her heavy traveling garments -- was now in front of her, pendant in hand, and the candle from the desk was now on the floor. "Thank you Auntie Amirie, this should be all I need," Her aunt nodded to her and exited. Aariah opened her book to the appropriate page and quietly studied what she was about to do.

After several minutes she set the book down on the desk and sat on the floor with the candle in front of her. She began. "I call upon my own might, to release the staff of my right!" Her dagger pendant stretched out into a staff once again. She held it upright a few inches above the candle and said, "Either East, West, South or North," She was being slow and methodical, "I am in search of something to me it's worth. I am in search of Water" She closed her eyes and let go of the staff. Just like she expected, and as the book had said, her staff hovered over the candle and did not fall. The book had predicted that the candle's flame and the staff would both lean in the direction of the nearest entity before she would open her eyes. She hesitated only slightly, believing that the more time she gave it, the more accurate it would be. Aariah slowly opened her eyes and gasped. The staff and candle flame were still upright! She looked wide-eyed at what was before her, since the spell should have worked. She got onto her hands and knees and looked closer at the flame. It didn't even twitch. She blew on it, and to her amazement it stood still. She got up and went to her book. Everything she had done was correct. She followed the book exactly, so it should have worked. Turning back to the staff and candle, she decided to break the spell. She walked up to the staff and took hold of it. "I am done. Thank you for your help." At that she was able to take the staff away and the candle began to twitch once again. After several minutes of frustratingly trying to figure out what she did wrong, she sighed and sat down once again. "One more try. I will give this one more try."


	4. Then Came Water...

THEN CAME WATER

"Can you believe it, Siefoth?" Amirie asked her husband while they were at the bar counter. "Our little niece whom we've known for years is actually becoming an owner of the elements."

Siefoth nodded his head slowly, "Yes, she is becoming much more than what her parents had hoped."

"It's too bad It's too bad they're not around anymore. I'm sure they'd be proud of her." Amirie thought aloud.

"Well, her teacher did raise her well, my wife. There's no doubt in my mind, that if the situation had been different, she would not be the owner of an element right now." Siefoth reminded.

"That is true." Amirie was about to continue agreeing with her husband when she noticed Aariah taking a seat at the bar counter. Amirie leaned around her husband, "Aariah, how did your session go? Did you find which direction the water elemental is?"

One of the other bartenders passed her a short, round mug of wine. "Well," she sighed, "I followed everything by the letter." She sipped her wine, tasting it slowly, "And not a single thing happened." She set down her mug after a second sip.

"What do you mean, my dear?" Siefoth turned.

"Well, the staff was suppose to point in the direction of the elemental" she sipped the wine, "It just didn't move" another sip "not a single twitch, not a single twinge. Just stick-strait up is all it did or didn't for that matter." She swirled the dark liquid around in her mug and watched it ripple about.

"What do you think went wrong?" Amirie continued with the questions.

"I don't know!" Aariah said a little too harshly. She placed her hands flat on the counter and stopped the wash of anger that was about to break. "I tried. I worked by the book and word for word It just didn't work" She sighed and this time swigged her wine. "I guess I guess, I'm just out of energy I'm too tired to to do anything, I guess." She paused while her aunt and uncle did the same. "I'm going to sleep. I'll take a rest and get the energy I need" She downed the last of her wine, "then, I'll try it again Just. One. More. Time"

"Alright that is a good idea, Aariah Get some rest. You shouldn't rush things." Amirie consoled.

"I shouldn't rush things" Aariah puffed a laugh and smiled slightly, "I should have remembered that from him my teacher I should have thought of that first and always." She looked at her relatives, "Good night, I shall hopefully get a better idea -- and result -- at a later hour."

"Good night my dear." Amirie acknowledged.

"Sleep peacefully." Siefoth added.

Aariah wandered off to her room, tired from the frustration the event had caused her. She shuffled into her nightgown and tugged out her leather hair tie. However, she did not blow out her candle, instead, she lay back on her bed, resting her head on her folded hands. She looked around the room and heard the quiet whisper of water moving. It had been a wonderful idea of her aunt's to round the ceilings. That way, the condensation of water would flow harmlessly down the rock wall behind the wooden panels. Of course the panels were spaced away from the stone, so as not to get wet. She remembered how her aunt had once told her how the water then drained into a reservoir below the whole facility. This condensation was of course from the heat that flowed throughout the facility and also from the living inhabitants that blew their moist breath. Aariah saw the candlelight flicker faintly off from the moist and rippled surface of the stone.

"That's it!" Aariah cried as she realized her mistake. "The reservoir!" she quickly grabbed her pendant and ran down to her aunt's living room. "Auntie Amirie!? Auntie Amirie, I know where the elemental is!"

Her aunt shuffled in from the door to the bar, "My child, hush! Do you wish for my patrons to know?" She bustled up to her niece. "I saw someone who may or may not be a magic user He may want to take your elemental."

Aariah paused, "I understand" She drew her aunt away from the inn, farther back into her home. "Is there a way to get down to your reservoir?"

"Is that where it is? Is that where Water is?" Amirie could barely keep her enthusiasm to a whisper.

"Yes, I believe so So how can I get down there?" Aariah pushed.

"There is a ladder in the back of my home go down it and at the bottom there is a hall. At the end of the hall is the reservoir. I use it in case I run out of water for boiling." Amirie told her.

"Thank you, my aunt. I shall be back shortly with the elemental in my possession." Aariah quickly went to the back of Amirie's home. After some searching, she found the hidden door that revealed the descending ladder. She quickly hopped onto it and shut the door behind her. Unfortunately, this action cut off her only light. Through the dark, she found each step and slowly inched her way down.

Aariah was unsure exactly how long it took her to reach the bottom, nor how far down she went. All she knew was that she hit direct stone beneath her, ending the monotonous climbing. Carefully, she checked the walls to find the tunnel she needed to follow. Opposite of the ladder she found it, narrow and low. She again slowly followed her aunt's word and trailed her way down the invisible tunnel.

"Oof!" Aariah puffed when she collided with a wooden door. She slowly released the latch, and found that the door was almost sealed to the stone. She had to pull rather hard to get it open, but understood that this was waterproofing should there be too much water right? Finally, in a big whoosh, the door swung open revealing a round torch lit room. There was but little floor. A small wooden balcony of sorts hung over the dark depths of the massive well-like reservoir. She stepped out onto the balcony and looked up. Above her was a tall shaft that ended in several holes, both on its end and on its sides. Beside her were the torches, one on each end of the balcony.

Aariah looked down and gasped. Below her were the inky depths of this massive reservoir swirling unnaturally like a whirlpool. A lone bucket hanging on a rope was desperately dancing on the surface before it was sucked into the center. It was not long before the rope snapped, dooming the bucket to the bottom of the dark depths.


	5. The Second Capture...

THE SECOND CAPTURE

"Sir, are you looking for something, sir?" Amirie had just opened the door to head back into the inn when she found a man dressed in blue and gold on the other side of the door. She looked at his hand where it hovered at doorknob level and then looked up. "This area is my home, sir, which is why there is a 'no admittance' sigh posted on the door."

"I'm sorry," He paused, taking his hand back. I was hoping I could find the owner of this fine establishment." He clasped his hands together in front of himself.

"I am the owner. What is it you want?" Amirie didn't like the character of the man.

"Yes, of course you are, being in the back and all I wanted to know if anything strange had been going on lately some unexplainable things, perhaps?"

This man was much taller than Amirie, and his outfit reminded her of flames. Amirie's suspicions were getting stronger. "Siefoth!" she called over to the bar, "This man would like to know if we've seen any strange things around here lately Have you seen anything?"

Across the room Siefoth looked back and forth from his wife to the man. Thankfully Siefoth was stronger built than the stick thin man that was looming over his wife. "Nay, I have seen nothing!" he responded, but went over to the two of them anyway. "What is it to you anyway, traveler?"

"I have heard tales that this area was pointed out by several mages to have some rather unique elemental qualities. I was hoping that you fine people would have knowledge of such stories." The man smiled in an attempt to break the mood.

**********

Aariah had been prepared for this encounter. At least she had memorized the chant to release the air from herself for the time it took to capture the water. Of course, she also needed the air's help during the capture. She first started with the chant to release her staff. "I call upon my own might, to release the staff of my right!" Her dagger pendant, that was dangling from her out-stretched palm, floated in front of her and extended its handle out to it's full magical length. She quickly took hold of it, knowing that the water elemental was now aware of her presence. The waters began to swirl faster, moving higher and higher up the inner walls of the chamber. "My strength resides in my own heart, but there is a foe out there that I must fight. So outside me there will be a part, to help me battle with all my might!" Aariah quickly stabbed her dagger staff onto the floor causing her magic circle to appear. Upon her lifting the staff from the small hole it made in the wood, the ribbons of air once again took flight. Also, to her astonishment, a pair of white-silver wings graced her shoulders like she had transformed into an angel.

The water raged up the sides of the reservoir, only parting where the balcony had been in the way. On some sort of instinct, Aariah flew into the middle of the well only to find the water curling into the center of the room above her. She was plunged into the depths of the water down deeper than she thought the actual reservoir was. She started to beat her wings furiously forcing herself up and out. At what she thought was the last of her breath, she broke through the surface of the water and quickly landed once again on the balcony. "_Air_! Quickly! Make this room freezing cold!" She curled her wings around her sopping wet body in hopes of protection of the soon to be buffeting cold. The wind picked up, entangling itself with the water. The entanglement became faster and faster, swirling round and round creating a banshee howl so loud that Aariah struggled to stay aware.

**********

People screamed as a harsh, cold wind blew up from behind all of the wooden walls. It was so cold in fact that the wind was actually visible to those who were unlucky enough not to blink in time. "What is going on here!!!" Siefoth boomed in an attempted to get above the howl of the wind.

  
"I do not know, husband!" Amirie tried to answer from her crunched position next to the door. Her eyes were tight shut, as was everyone else's. Unfortunately the man in blue felt his way through the doorway and into Amirie's home.

**********

The storm of air and water began to build a layer of ice upon Aariah's delicate wings. It was thin at first, but quickly grew to be several feet thick. Eventually the howling stopped reaching her ears. This troubled her, but also seemed like a sign that the water was getting weak. She decided to try the spell. "Powered by my might of will, I challenge you to show your face, there will be no need to kill, my power will take your power's place! What I see will become mine, and in my eye I see _Water_!" Aariah's eyes flared with determination as her magic circle once again appeared beneath her. The ice cracked as beams of light formed from her sentry position. It eventually shattered and became tiny shards of snow before it swirled into a blizzard at the tip of her lowered staff. There was still the hint of youthful eyes within the snow. They were so sorrowful. It wasn't long before the snow turned into the same lightening as the air and ripped up her staff. "Not Aaaagain!!!" she cried as she realized what was coming. The lightening made contact with her power and instantly her world went white.

**********

On a far distant slope a single traveler heading for Amirie's place saw a large gust of snow and wind erupt from the fissure that he was heading for. The sound of screams both of horror and of confusion could be heard floating on top of it all.

**********

In some strange suddenness, the cold wind stopped. No more did it howl above their screams and blessed silence filled their ears. The man clothed in blue and gold stopped. He could tell that whatever had happened had finished and would not return again. Instead of heading back to the inn where the somewhat rude woman was, he decided to leave out the back door, for he was done with this place.

"Siefoth?" Amirie hesitated, opening her eyes slowly.

"I believe it's through, Amirie" he consoled his wife.

"So does Aariah have it then? The water?"

"Aye, I believe so" he paused, "Where was she?"

"In the reservoir"

"I'll go check on her" He answered and helped his wife into their home. Another bartender was already starting up the fireplace and wood stove once again.


	6. A Small Break...

A SMALL BREAK

"Aye you've had a long day." Siefoth carefully picked up his niece from the wooden balcony. "Time to get you some place warm." She began to shiver in his arms; her sopping wet hair a dangling mass of black around her face.

"It's alright, Aariah. You did well We're going to help you now." Amirie had followed her husband no more than a minute later. She closed the door behind them and lit the way back to the house with the torch she brought.

Siefoth placed Aariah onto her bed and quietly left the room. Amirie carefully took her niece out of her wet clothes and into some warm blankets. The blankets had come from the warming area and so were toasty now even though the fires had just been rekindled. At that, Amirie also took her leave.

Aariah slept uneasily. Her ability to control more than one elemental was being tested. Both air and water were within her and on their own are rather strong. It almost seemed as if they did not appreciate eachother's close company. But they were there, and had to cope within the power that Aariah maintained.

Amirie checked in periodically on her sleeping niece, making sure everything was all right. She understood that the power from two elemental beings must be hard to control and thus, Aariah must rest. But this rest worried Amirie, for it seemed almost an eternal slumber.

Several days passed before there was a flicker in Aariah's eyes and they opened. She stayed there rather silent and unmoving. In fact, it took the slight creaking of the door and Amirie's quiet cough to bring her aware that she was awake.

"Aariah?" Amirie tried quietly, as she had always done when she entered the room.

"" Aariah could hardly tell her voice was answering.

"Are you awake this time?" Amirie was still in a hushed tone.

"Yes I believe I am" she turned her head towards her aunt, "And how are you? Did my capturing cause any disturbance in--"

"It did actually" Amirie smiled and sat at the desk. "But I was able to handle it and yes, I am fine." She sighed, "I'm more worried about you, my dear, for your troubled sleep lasted quite a while are you alright?"

Aariah looked at her aunt strangely, "Yes, I feel well how long have I been asleep?"

"Four days" Amirie answered.

Aariah's eyes widened, "Four days?" she received a nod from her aunt in confirmation. "I I feel like it has only been but a few hours!" Aariah looked rather confused.

"It's their strength, Aariah, the strength of your elemental beings held within you. They are tapping into and testing your own strength, making sure that you can handle them"

There was a long and uneasy pause, for neither of them could think of something else to say. But then Aariah began to worry, "Auntie Amirie? Where am I to go next? And what elemental should I go after now? Fire? Wood? I have no idea what my path is to be!"

"Well" Amirie thought about this like a mother to a child, "perhaps you should figure out which elemental is most weakened by the powers that you hold What will be the easier fight?"

Aariah thought quietly to herself before answering, "Fire? Would that not be the most susceptible to my strengths of air and water? For wood lives off from air and water so fire must be the one most affected" She was now thinking aloud.

"Then take that as your choice, and follow what you think is pulling you." She consoled.

"Yes I suppose that would be best" She began to think about the easiest way to locate a fire elemental. The directional spell would help at lest. "I shall start making plans to go then. I don't want to hesitate if for some reason it may cost me."

There was a long pause, "You're hesitating right now aren't you?" Amirie saw the shock on Aariah's face, "because you're unsure you're not quite sure what's going on, or how to deal with it, but you're not willing to let that show and you hope to know what to do when you get there Correct?" Amirie knew she had hit the nail on the head when Aariah's eyes lowered submissively.

"I I don't want to lose" she admitted.

"Lose what? You may have gained much, my dear, but I know you will lose nothing." With that, Amirie would not let Aariah speak and promptly left the room.

Aariah sat quietly contemplating what she was going to do. She knew she had to leave soon at least, for that would make it easier on her relatives. But when will she go? After several minutes of wondering while she got dressed, she decided she could at least know the direction she was to head.

She carefully placed the candle on to the floor and took her pendant off. "I call upon my own might, to release the staff of my right!" Once again the dagger lengthened itself in front of her and she grasped it firmly. Then, holding it just above the candle she closed her eyes and began the locating spell, "Either East, West, South or North; I am in search of something to me it's worth; I am in search of Fire" this try she didn't waste any time wondering if it was going to work. When she let go of the staff, she could almost feel it move from her fingers and hear it whip into place. She opened her eyes and sure enough, the staff and candle flame were flat horizontal and pointing their tops towards the Southward direction of Mataria. "Mataria?" she wondered aloud.


	7. Fight To Escape...

FIGHT TO ESCAPE...

"You're up early, my niece." Siefoth met Aariah at the bar counter.

Aariah took a seat at the counter and yawned, "Yes, I must get a good start on today, for I travel before noon." Her load of stuff was already slung onto her back.

"So you're leaving then? I was hopin' you'd --" He looked up to see another weary traveler slam the door shut from the blowing cold outside the mountain. "Aye, good morrow to you, traveler! You are welcome to the warming area if ye like!" His voice boomed over the crowd. The traveler nodded and did as told. There had been a blizzard out for the last two days, so it was rather painful to see people still arriving from outside after putting up with the horrible weather. But at least the tavern was safely built inside the fissure of the mountain, cozy and warm.

After the traveler started to get settled, Siefoth continued, "I thought ye were going to stay for little while longer?" He trailed off again as he noticed a familiar blue outfit emerging from under the coat of the new traveler. He headed over to the man, as Aariah trailed close behind. "Aye! What are you doing back?" he was rather curt to the man.

"Who…?" Aariah wondered aloud.

"This man snuck into our home while you were… were… Aye, while you were down in the reservoir." Siefoth didn't take his eyes off from the man except during his pause in thought when he looked at her. He took a step closer.

"I could not get through the weather…" the traveler grumbled, somewhat hesitantly.

After a slight pause, Aariah interrupted, "Siefoth, do you smell flesh burning?" She stepped closer to her uncle and sniffed about.

He, too, took wind of the air, "What the…?"

"I suggest you don't anger me for I do have control of fire…" True to the traveler's word, there was a slight steam coming from the clothes he wore and his coat on the chair. He was warming himself with the fire he controlled and around him the room got brighter as the candles, torches, wood stove and fireplace blazed stronger.

"What do ye want, anyway!?" Siefoth was rather angry now. He didn't like people who tried to appear threatening.

There was a long pause as the man looked, narrow eyed, between Siefoth and Aariah. It was as if he was reading their minds and knew what was going on. "Her..." he said, "I want her elements." He jaunted over next to Aariah and wrapped his arm around her shoulders; getting close. "You have power, my dear," he continued and grinned evilly, "and I want it..."

Aariah tried politely to unwrap herself from him, but he was pressing so forcefully. She finally had to push on him several times before getting away. "Do you think I'm just going to give them to you...!?" She started so soft that the traveler could hardly hear her whisper over the din of the bar. "Are you that daft...!? I worked hard for them...! I will not let them go...! There are others for you to behold...!" she trailed off slightly as a whine picked up quietly behind all sound. The front door began to creak, the whine coming from the wind behind it. Before anyone else had a chance to notice, the door blew apart into wooden shards, spraying in every direction. Several pieces even impaled themselves into people. She realized, however, that she needed to get this situation out of here, "I cannot fight you here...! Nor today! There are too many people!" With that she turned to Siefoth and said, "Say it with me!"

Siefoth nodded, for he remembered her story, "I call upon my own might, to release the staff of my right!" He had clasped his hands over hers as the dagger pendant emerges from their hands. The next chant, however, he didn't know and only mumbled along, "My strength resides in my own heart, but there is a foe out there that I must fight. So outside me there will be a part, to help me battle with all my might!" Once again she stabbed the ground with the tip of the dagger staff. The wind ribbons swiftly released themselves. Again her shoulders were graced with the icy white silver wings. "Go, Aariah!" Siefoth pushed her hands and staff away. He was hoping that this ruse of him performing the magic would succeed.

"Goodbye!" Aariah had barely enough time to utter it before her wings caught the wind and she was carried out into the blizzard.

It wasn't long before two fellow barkeeps covered the doorway with a larger piece of wood. This hunk of wood had been in storage nearby to actually combine with the front door for this kind of occasion. However this time, it was all they had.

Siefoth stood and shook off the thin layer of snow upon him while others did the same. The fellow barkeeps attended to some of the wounded people with door shards in them.

"Was- was she an illegal magic user...?" a man uttered as he slowly crawled out from under his table.

"Why, yes--" the traveler tried to start.

"_Nay_!" Siefoth interrupted and gave a rather bold stare at the man. "For _I_ was the one to fly her out of here, and _I_ was the one who performed the chants!" he paused and added for the man, "Aye, I can do a lil' magic of my own."

The traveler had kept his silence, for he knew that his fight was with Aariah, and not with this man. He would wait, and plan for his next encounter, which he knew, would be soon.


	8. Then Into Mataria...

THEN INTO MATARIA

Aariah flew for several hours in what seemed like no particular direction. The blizzard had obscured the majority of the trip and she was still thinking about her last moments at the tavern. She could tell the traveler's intentions were to get her elements, and she hoped that fact would keep Uncle Siefoth and Auntie Amirie safe.

The weather began to clear slightly and Aariah gasped. "Mataria?" she whispered to herself. "But I can fly that fast?" she was astonished for not far ahead of her were the outskirts of an obvious village. By the looks of the village, they were in celebration for many people were dressed exotically. There appeared to be many dances going on in several areas of town and people were feasting at large outdoor tables.

Aariah landed well away from town and in the woods so not to let her magic be apparent. After concealing the elemental beings inside of her, and reducing her staff back to the dagger pendant it originally was, she headed towards town. It took her till sundown to arrive at the village's edge.

"Hello there! And how is a fine lady like yourself doing this evening?" An elaborately dressed young man welcomed her from his perch on a fence.

"Fine, thank you." Aariah answered. "Do you know where the inn is?"

"Why yes, milady. The inn is part of the town bar called The Cavern. You can find it on the left if you follow this street." He nodded hi head off to the side, and then looked back at her. "Ye are traveling though? For you do not seemed dressed for the occasion." He added.

Aariah looked at herself for the first time that day. She had on all her warm travelling clothes and the hood to her cloak she could feel draped on her head. "I suppose this is a little unfitting for the tropical side of the Ashens" She paused and took off her thick outer layer that contained all of her traveling items. She then rolled it up into a pack to carry. "Is my violet cloak more occasional?" she asked.

"Yes, milady, it is. Would you like an escort to The Cavern?" He hopped off the fence. "I can carry your things for you."

She thought for a moment, and decided for it after she considered all the travelling she had done. "I thank you again, kind sir. And I shall take you up on your offer as well." She handed over the pack of stuff. "But I tell you now, I have no money to pay you if you wish for a tip." She added.

"No tip, milady, it is a week of celebration. No money is needed, for everything is shared." They headed off down the dirt path of a street. "So where is it you're traveling? For your clothing tells me you're from over the mountains." He continued the conversation.

"I am from Potoremin, and I am heading" she had to pause and search for an answer.

"You are heading?" he pushed.

"I am heading South." She finished.

"South? South to where?"

"Does it really matter that much to you?" she got a little defensive, but her voice was still playful.

"Well it just might." He continued. "For there is one thing that I do remember from but a week ago milady."

"And what is that?"

"I remember having made a cloak and sending it to the tavern in the mountains where someone was to receive it. That cloak just happened to be violet as well." He nodded to her cloak for emphasis.

"So this is your work then?"

"Aye, milady."

"Then you do fine work, for this cloak was exactly as I had wanted it." She pulled on it slightly.

"But, milady, that cloak was told to be made for a mage" he was getting a little confused.

Aariah had almost stopped dead in her tracks but knew that would cause suspicion. She quickly covered, "And that it was However, the mage that this cloak was made for had died on the trip to the mountains. His wish was that I take care of it until I find someone worthy of it."

"I I'm sorry for your loss, milady." They arrived at The Cavern and he opened the door for her.

"I thank you for your help, kind sir." She calmly took her stuff from him.

"You may speak with the bartender for a room." He pointed out. "I hope to see you again, milady." He bowed slightly and went over to a rowdy table where he obviously had friends.

She went over to the bar counter and took a seat. "What do you want?" the bartender asked as he scrubbed out a glass.

"Wine." She said flatly.

"Wine it is." He went over to one of the shelves and picked a wine bottle. He filled a mug with the dark, scarlet liquid and placed it in front of her. "Anything else?"

"A room, please." She added before she took a sip.

"Yes, we have rooms." He turned to a row of wooden panels on one wall. The panels made a small map of the upstairs and certain panels were colored and others were not. "How 'bout the room at the end of the hall? It has bed for one."

"That will do nicely, thank you." She nodded.

"Alright." The bartender took the matching panel and slipped it out of its spot. He then flipped the panel over revealing the purple painted side and placed it back into its spot.

Aariah smirked at the irony of the color. She slowly enjoyed her drink and surveyed the tavern while she did so. There were many small parties going on at certain tables and there were also people that were as alone as she was. After she had finished her wine, she trailed her way up the stairs and into her room. She was tired and did not unpack any of her stuff except for her nightshirt before she changed and went to bed.


	9. One Celebration Day...

ONE CELEBRATION DAY

Aariah awoke to the early sounds of celebration. She savored the moment, for she rarely ever spent her time celebrating. Echoing in from her window were the sounds of children playing in the streets. Their giggles filled with contentment and joy. Notes of cheery bar songs floated up the stairs and in through her door. She slowly sat herself up in bed. She had to get to work. For if that blue-clad traveler was still coming after her, then she had to work quickly to capture Fire and move on. She went over to the window and made sure it was tight shut and she did the same to the door before locking the both of them. She then lit the candle the inn had provided on the table inside the room and placed it in the center of the floor. She still had her dagger pendant on, for she felt closer to it now then ever.

Carefully she knelt next to the candle and removed the necklace to hold it at arm's length. "I call upon my own might to release the staff of my right" She was whispering so no one out side of her room could hear her practicing magic. The dagger pendant extended to staff length within her hand as her magical circle glowed beneath her. She held the dagger staff above the flame once again. "Either East, West, South or North; I am in search of something to me it's worth; I am in search of Fire" Again, she shut her eyes and let go of the staff. It whiped out of her hand and she opened her eyes. "North East?" she questioned to herself. "I thank you for your help." She took the staff from the spell.

"Milady, are you in there? I heard from the bartender that this was your room." The young man from the night before was lightly knocking on her door.

She turned, surprised and her staff visually wavered and became the pendant once again. "Y-y-yes? I am in here" she hesitated in her words, but not in her actions. She quickly moved her candle to the table it had come from and replaced her pendant around her neck.

"Oh, good! Then I do have the right room. I was wondering if you would like to participate in some of today's celebrations." He continued from outside the door.

She sighed and started to get dressed. "And what kind of celebration are you inviting me to?"

"There is a morning feast and dance going on in the northern part of town. I was in hopes you could show off my workmanship by wearing the cloak of your late mage friend." He was a little hesitant on the last three words. "But it would help me greatly, for there are men from a guild in the West that will be attending, and if they were to see that cloak of yours, they would appreciate my work and hopefully allow me to join with them." He tried.

She sighed once again, "Alright, if it means that much to you." She puffed a laugh, "Besides, it'll be my way of paying your tip for last night."

"Thank you, milady. I shall wait down in the tavern for you, and take you there." His words were fast and jubilant.

Aariah could hear him bound down the stairs to the tavern. She was almost changed as it was, but she also wanted to pack. If this feast and dance are to be in the northern portion of town, then she could leave town right after ward to look for the fire elemental. She shouldn't have passed it by far, because the staff would have pointed directly back to Amirie's if she had missed it by a great deal. She figured she had about two or three miles to where the elemental would be. She finished packing and had once again bundled her stuff into her heavy outer coat.

When she had arrived down stairs, she found the cloak maker waiting for her at the bar. "Ah, you are ready, milady?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered.

"Why have you packed? Are you leaving today, already?" he was beside her and leading her outside.

"Yes, again. As I had said to you earlier, I am only passing through, so I was not intending to stay for very long." She answered somewhat curtly.

"Ah I understand then."

They had walked the rest of the way enjoying the moment in silence. However, there was not much silence when they arrived.

"Look! There he is now! Our local Cloak Maker! See? He has brought a lady with him to show off his work! Isn't it exquisite?" a rather loud lady was pointing at them as they arrived.

Several people turned and looked at them, having followed the lady's introduction. There was a small group of men in stark, navy blue overcoats with silver lining who were gathered beside her. They were obviously the ones he was here to impress. "You told others that I was in town, or could they already guess?" Aariah asked.

"They know my work." He nodded and led her towards a table.

"Ah, so then I'm just being paranoid" she stated.

He pulled out a chair for her and she sat in it. "I guess so, milady." He smiled as the group of men in navy blue walked up. "Hello, gentlemen."

"We have heard much about you." The forefront of the group spoke.

"I do not doubt that. My town is prideful of me." He stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders.

"This," a man to the leader's right nodded his head at Aariah. "Is your work then?"

"Yes, you are correct. However, I find it appropriate that we eat first. I am sure all of you are tired from your trip. Please, sit and eat." He indicated the rest of the empty chars at the table. The men sat across from them, and he carefully took the chair next to Aariah. "What is your name, milady? I do not wish to appear forgetful of my colleague's names." He whispered to her.

"Aariah, kind sir. And I hope you do not forget it, for if you stutter on calling my name, they will think you took me off the street to show off your garments." She answered curtly and quietly.

"I agree thank you."


	10. Fun To Fire...

FUN TO FIRE

"Well, would you care to dance, lady Aariah?" her host, the cloak maker asked.

Aariah giggled slightly, the three glasses of wine were getting to her somewhat. "Why thank you, kind sir." She took his outstretched hand as lively music danced out around the field from the small orchestra. Aariah was actually impressed that the cloak was made well enough to dance in. She didn't think that the cloak maker would think of that when making it, but it flowed and furled along with the steps of the dance. Even the guild members were impressed, for they watched her movements across the grass.

"That cloak fits you well, Aariah. Especially considering it was made for someone other." The cloak maker commented. Aariah didn't answer but opted to smile instead. 

After the song was over, the leader of the guild members came up to Aariah, "May I receive the next dance, milady?" he asked.

"Why, yes." She answered. The new song was just as fast paced as the last melody, however the guild leader took much larger steps.

"And how did you come to acquire a cloak made by that man? I can tell from the way you speak, that you are from over the mountains." He asked her as the continued to dance.

"My friend told someone who was heading in this direction, to order for him a cloak from Mataria since he had heard that there was a rather professional cloak maker here." She explained. "This was in fact the one he ordered."

"Did he order it for you, milady? For this cloak gives the appearance that it was made for a mage." The interview continued.

"No, it was made for him. I was traveling with him into the mountains to Amirie's tavern where we were to pick it up. However, he died on the way there" she lowered her eyes for effect. "He told me that I should have it until I find someone I believe deserves it I was his closest friend."

"I... I am sorry, milady. I did not know." The guild leader admitted and fell silent for the rest of the dance.

The celebration had lasted into the afternoon and when it broke, Aariah wondered where her host had gone.

"They accepted me!!" His voice called from behind her.

"There you are, cloak maker!" She turned away from the field's wooded edge to see him come up and give her a slight hug. "Are you leaving right away then?"

"Yes! They want me to travel with them so they can get more information on my technique on the way there!" He answered excitedly.

"Good for you!" Aariah was just as excited. " When are they leaving? Their place was to the West, correct?"

"Yes, they are to the West, and I am leaving right now! I thank you, milady, for helping me out! I couldn't have joined if you weren't there to help me."

Aariah smiled and laughed slightly, "You are welcome! I hope to see you again, sometime."

"Yes! And when you do, I'll make sure to make a cloak for you so that you'll have one to wear after this one of your friend's." He told her enthusiastically.

Aariah saw the navy blue-clad guild members looking at them. "You had better get going. Your guests are waiting."

He turned to see them, "I'll be right there!"

As the cloak maker said this, Aariah slipped away in to the woods behind her. Her stuff was already hidden back there and she really didn't want to say goodbye to him. "I have to get where I am going." She scolded herself out loud when she heard the cloak maker call her name in confusion. "I must get fire. Fire is next, and it's not that far away." She continued. She could still hear him in the distance.

After she had found her stuff, she traveled two miles into the woods before she started to wonder when she was going to encounter Fire. . She reached a river. The woods were calm and inviting around the river. The remnants of a campsite sat still on the other side. She heard a rustle behind her, and she looked. A rabbit hopped away from her quick movement with it's tail high in the air. It had made the rustle. Aariah turned back to the placid river. She knew that if she were to fight Fire, she would need to release the elements within her power in order for them to help her fight it. She stepped up to the water's edged, held out her dagger pendant and began. "I call upon my own might, to release the staff of my right!" The pendant became a staff as tall and long as its owner. There was another rustle across the river, and a deer emerged only to run parallel with the river for several feet and return to the woods from which it emerged. Aariah sighed, "My strength resides in my own heart, but there is a foe out there that I must fight. So outside me there will be a part, to help me battle with all my might!" she poked her dagger into the water's surface, and it began to ripple. Water was released into the river churning it white like rapids. Air was also released, and it flew into the sky as Aariah once again received her white-silver wings. She had to admit to herself, that she enjoyed the feeling she got when the wings graced her shoulders.

There was another sound from the woods across the river. A squirrel scampered across the campsite and over to the blackened wood of a long dead campfire. It picked up an acorn next to the charred material, but dropped it quickly and ran for the woods it had emerged from.


	11. Fight By River...

FIGHT BY RIVER

Aariah decided that the moment was safe enough to fly up and scan her vast surroundings for Fire. She fluttered her wings slightly before she took off into the sky just above the river. She only went a few feet above the treetops, for she knew that would be enough of a view. Surprisingly, the flash of the fire she was looking for was much closer than she had believed. On the opposite river bank, the dead campfire kicked back into life as a large pillar of flames. Aariah had to swoop out of the way quickly, and she ran into the trees behind her. Falling to the forest floor, she looked up to see the pillar of fire whip around in the air like a giant snake. "Oh no!" She cried as it whiped her way. The flames barely missed the soaring Aariah and instead ignited the forest and its floor. As she tried desperately to fly down river, her wing beats fed the fire in its pursuit of her.

Fire was faster and easily passed her up. It charred wood and trees causing a heavy limb to knock her to the ground. Aariah looked up and watched as a wall of flame was barreling towards her over the river. Thinking quickly, she saw a small waterfall and ordered, "Water! Flood the river! Air! Give me something to breathe!" She jumped into the water and buried herself as close to the waterfall as possible. Water had made the few inches of trickle over her into a ragging flood of several feet. Air had created a pocket underneath the current, so that Aariah could move her wings to shelter herself and breathe while the fire ragged above the water.

The wall of flames torched across the river top and the trees surrounding it. An abundance flame blew down on the little waterfall that Aariah took shelter within. Every buffeting burn steamed away the water, but more water continued to flow in its place. Time had seemed to stretch on forever as she sat curled beneath. She could tell the Fire was getting through. The water was becoming more and more warm as the seconds ticked by in a crawl. Then the wall of flames ceased. No more did it heat the water and no more did water reflect it's rich orange color.

Aariah paused questioningly at its disappearance. "Where?" She spoke the obvious. Standing, she broke the bubble of air that had been supporting her and displaced the flowing water that had covered her. Fire seemed to lay weak upon a single tree; smoldering quietly in agony. It had worn itself out in the way Aariah had plotted to do, and had done with others before. "Powered by my might of will, I challenge you to show your face, there will be no need to kill, my power will take your power's place! What I see will become mine, and in my eye I seeFIRE!" She called out its name as if her soul was a match for it. The flames curled and reached for the sky as Air soothed it with fuel. The fire came upon her staff like a flying mystical nymph before it, too, changed into the power joining lightning. Aariah quickly braced herself, but it was painful. She could not stand any longer and as her wings wafted into nothingness, she collapsed to the forest floor. Surprisingly, she did not feint. Her own strength, built up from capturing two other elements, had kept her awake and aware.

She did not move, for fear of causing an unconscious state. She could hear the birds coming back in their whistling tunes, and the squirrel rustled leaves as it went back to the acorn it had dropped. Many animals had begun to move about in fact. For there was rustling coming from many directions. Surprisingly, another squirrel came up next to her as it picked up a different forest scrap. As it scuttled away, she could hear another forest creature trample through the trees where it had gone out of sight.

**********

Night had fallen before she finally mustered up enough courage to move. She was comforted when she could turn her head and lift her arms without any resistance. She propped herself up on her elbows and stretched her back until it cracked several times. After rolling onto her side, she got to her feet. On the ground beside her was the pendant that had been her staff earlier. She stooped to pick it up, but heard a crackle of leaves from within the same woods the squirrel had disappeared into. Aariah couldn't see what was inside the woods at the time, but she knew that nightly animals were out on their way out of their hiding places and that they probably wouldn't bother her.

"Fire" she muttered under her breath as she remembered what she had just accomplished. She proceeded up river back to where she had left her things along the river bank and was annoyed to find them soaking wet several feet closer down the river from the flooding that she had ordered the water to do. She dug through her stuff to find that her magic book had lost all its lettering due to the water and that the pages were in fact dissolving from the rather weak paper they were made from. She had to remember that it was not her teacher's fault for making a shoddy book, for if he had made an accurate one for an apprentice, the man he got the paper from would want to know who his new apprentice was.

After she had properly buried the book -- and checking the pages for all their blankness -- she decided to continue up river, away from Mataria. She hoped in that direction she might find some where less noticeable to camp and prepare for Wood. It took her but a few hours to find a nice camping place not too far West of Fight Lake to set up her camp and settle down for a quiet few hours of peaceful, deserved sleep.


	12. A Final Confrontation...

A FINAL CONFRONTATION

Aariah didn't wake up until the afternoon, and even then, a little sluggish. She picked up her pendant and looked at it. The dagger reflected the sunlight dimly as it shined its weariness from its use. She sighed for she was weary as well.

After packing, She continued down river for the scorched earth and woods were bound to attract attention. She was not far from Fight Lake and it did not take her more than a few hours to reach it. "Wow" she breathed, for she had never seen a lake before. Her life had been pretty simple before capturing the elements: study magic, work for her instructor, she didn't do much exploring.

The water before her was as clear as a mirror, if not as calm. Strangely, an old dock sat boldly out from the rocky shoreline near the mountains.

"Hello again, my element mage!" Aariah looked up to see a familiar blue and gold clad character posed on a rocky outcropping.

"What are you doing here!?" she backed up and dropped the majority of her stuff.

The Traveler busied himself with straightening his outfit as he spoke "I was actually on my way over to capturing wood when I had watched from atop a mountain, part of the forest burning. At first I thought it was just a normal forest fire nothing to concern myself with." He held his arms out to make sure his sleeves looked right, "But then I realized, you my dear, had already captured Water and Air and I already had the others of Water Air and Fire." He looked at her with a proud raised head and smoothed his jacket down as he moved his hands down to his sides. "So I knew you would be after Fire next."

"But" Aariah protested slightly.

"Ah you're wondering how I knew you would be at Fight Lake?" She nodded and gulped as he went on. "I figured that you would travel in the direction Fire had been chasing you. Down river Am I right?"

Aariah was getting tired of the man. "And so this brings us to the present then, does it not?" The Traveler smirked at her noticing that a bit of him was rubbing off on her. Aariah didn't notice and continued. "So, what? What is it? Why do you bother me?" she spat.

He lowered his head, "I hate to be cliché but You know very well what I want and unlike you, I do not hide my magic, but keep it released!" With that his wings appeared into her view, as he had been holding them directly behind him to hide them. His wings were also angel like, but more of a dark gray-green than compared hers.

Aariah worked quickly and tossed out her pendant as she chanted: "I-call-upon-my-own-might-to-release-the-staff-of-my-right!" time seemed to pause as the Traveler flew in her direction and she took hold of her extended dagger staff. Without hesitation she turned it tip downward. "My-strength-resides-in-my-own-heart-but-there-is-a-foe-that-I-must-fight-so-outside-me-there-will-be-a-part-to-help-me-battle-with-all-my-might!" Instantly she received her wings and she also took off into the air, dodging the rocket like attack of the Traveler. "You won't get it!" She flew up and away.

The Traveler hit the ground with his feet and used his momentum to rebound in her direction. "You _are_ no match for me! Even _if_ you have the other half of the tree elements!" he snarled.

__

"Fire!" she cried as she turned and held her hands out at him. A column of flames burst from her hands at him.

"It's not that easy!" The Traveler dodged to the side almost getting singed. "Now see _my_ fire!!" he held his palms out in the same way as another pillar of flames formed. She dodged downward and flew straight as an arrow towards the water. "Air! Water! Help me breathe!" She dove beneath the placid depths, as would a bird diving for fish. When she had reached several feet under she spread her wings, slowing and turning to face up.

"You think that water will conceal you?" he hovered over the water where she had entered. "I can do the same tricks as you! Air! Water!" He also dove beneath the waves.

Aariah used her wings as she had before and jetted away from his entry point. She understood that she had to conceal her commands if she was to get any upper hand at all. "Air Water" she whispered only then noticing that she really could breathe under water. "Make bubbles" she held out her hands in the same ways he had done fire and a huge torpedo of bubbles shot directly at the Traveler.

He tuned underwater and was struck by only part of the blast. "Clever girl. Combining your elements into an attack instead of an aid." He did seem to be bothered by getting struck first. He swam to the surface and jumped across the air to dive back in above her. "But anything you show me, I can do just as well!" he grinned and blasted bubbles at her as well.

She dodged the attack having heard him coming. "Water freeze a wall" Water complied with her demands and made a perfectly clear wall of ice across the center of the lake, separating them.

He stopped short of the wall "Water, melt!" and it complied so that he would only have to hesitate before continuing his pursuit. Aariah fled through the water from him. "Water! It's time for a little whirl pool, don't you think?" he stopped and water began to turn around him. It was slow at first, but picked up speed at a miraculous pace. He was at the center of the vortex so that anything caught in it would be drawn to him. A pillar of air formed where he stood quietly on the lakebed, untouched by water now.

Aariah tried to get out of the water fast enough, but was still caught in the eddy and dragged backwards around the lake. "No!" she scrambled wildly to get free as the Traveler only folded his arms and laughed. All he had to do was wait.


	13. To End It...

TO END IT...

"I will not let you win!!" She growled. "Air! Water! Fire! COMBINE!!!" This time she used the staff to aim her shot both towards the Traveler and into the current. A spray of fire filled bubbles tore around the whirlpool and released themselves into the center. Aariah could hear the scream of pain coming out of the Travelers surprised attack, even though she could not see him through the tornado of flames. "Air! Feed Fire!" she commanded and the flames grew stronger as the water's hold on her grew weaker.

Both Aariah and the Traveler emerged from their respective areas of confinement at the same time. Aariah drilled out of the water and hovered in the air as she watched the Traveler emerge. He flew haphazardly into the air and crash-landed onto the old dock in a heap. She swooped down, nearer to him, but did not say a word.

A primal growl of defeat tore from the Traveler's lungs and he glared at her in pure hatred. "How dare you! How dare you combine all three! You're not ready for that! You're not experienced enough for that! How could you control that!?" He spat at her.

"Unlike you All my magic was my own" she narrowed her eyes. "I do not thieve to gain power I can only do what I am powerful enough to do. And you can only do what your scrapings have allowed you to do!" She floated in closer.

"I can still pilfer your power! I can still turn you in to be hanged like all the rest of you illegal mages that I had killed. It's so easy that way suck the magic out of them and have them executed for their crimes that they cannot commit anymore!" he tried to get under her skin. "I even turned in my own mother! For she deserved it!"

"You cannot turn me in you are through." She told it as the truth.

He growled again. "Fire!" he held up a singe hand as a narrow beam of flames cascaded from it.

Aariah easily dodged it. "It's time to end your abuse!" she brought up her dagger staff and flew towards him "No more I say! No more will you have power! No more will you use my kind! And no more will you know of magic in your possession or in any woman's possession!!"

The tip of her staff pierced through his jacket and shirt burying its half-inch blade into his flesh before her momentum caused it to push him onto his back. His wings began to glow golden and dissolve as her staff also glowed, absorbing his power. It was like lightning all over again, ripping up her staff and burning its place in her power.

It only took seconds for her to fall to her knees in exhaustion. Though to her, those seconds were as long as minutes. The Traveler, for his part, was already knocked out and unconscious. She pulled her staff out of his flesh and saw the small trickle of blood bubble up from the wound.

**********

Aariah traveled West. She knew that with the removal of the Traveler's powers, he would not remember that she was a mage. His powers had given him the ability to sense other mages, but without that power he would not know why he pursued her. She now possessed the power to tell who was a mage and who was not. And with this power, she could avoid detection from other mages.

Aariah sighed as she reached the closest town from Fight Lake. She did not know the town, but she could tell there were no mages there, and none had passed in quite some time. She hoped she could stop and rest in this town and take a break from all that she had accomplished since that day in Potoremin. She knew that this town was a place that she could rest.


End file.
